Apparel retailers entered FY2014 with a good deal of worry about just how long consumers would stay away from stores after splurging before the consumption tax increase. The good news was that for many the second half of the year was positive, and by the end of the year, losses had been recouped. As a […]
In the first case for a department store, Isetan-Mitsukoshi will establish a joint venture company with leading third-party loyalty card provider, CCC. The T-Point loyalty card system is the most widely accepted in Japan. Signing Isetan-Mitsukoshi is a major coup, and the department store is expecting the relationship to pay equal dividends in helping it […]
Mitsukoshi Ginza will have a grand opening ceremony in mid-October to celebrate a further ¥4 billion remodelling designed to keep the store competitive with its neighbours and attract even more tourists. The key features of Mitsukoshi’s updated Ginza store include more Japanese brands, as well as more celebration of Japanese culture and services. A […]
After sales at department stores rose for the first time in 16 years in FY2013, most forecasts suggested those gains would be wiped out by the collapse in spending post-tax hike. This didn’t happen for most major stores in most big cities, even while regional stores continued their decline. The surge in tourism helped, but […]
Integrating new technologies into retailing is not just about e-commerce and RFID tagging to smooth inventory flow. Recent developments suggest increasing use of tracking technology and high-powered graphics chips to obviate the need to try anything on, and 3D printing combined with liquid fabric to even obviate the need for factories. This month Isetan Shinjuku […]
Retail results for FY2014 show just how well corporate retailing weathered the impact of the consumption tax increase in April 2014. Market share for the largest companies continues to grow, as does the percentage of sales taken up by private brands, but dynamism is also reflected in the emergence of new success stories. These are […]
The amount of copy devoted to Isetan-Mitsukoshi in recent months is the result of the pace of change and innovation at the formerly dowdy department store group. As well as small stores and services like travel and health clinics, the group’s latest ideas emphasise its determination to reach out to customers wherever they are. This […]
Small format retailing is Isetan-Mitsukoshi’s way out of the strictures of the department store market. Until now its boutiques have been in airports and outlet malls. Last month it opened Isetan Salone, the first in a chain of at least 10 upscale select shops. It also opened more middle market stores in Osaka that could […]
Isetan-Mitsukoshi’s spate of innovations in the last year has included most segments and most areas of Japanese life but there was one that seemed out of reach until now: the teen market. Last month it unveiled the latest iteration of its Alta shopping building in Harajuku, a festival of pink that may turn into a […]
JR West will open the second section of its Lucua SC in April, with eight Isetan stores and another 150 tenants, making it the biggest station SC in the country and providing yet more competition for the Umeda area in Osaka. The former Isetan-Mitsukoshi Osaka will reopen 2 April as Lucua 1100, a few days […]
The pace of innovation at Isetan-Mitsukoshi recently has been unprecedented but it looks like being just the start. As well as small format stores, it is looking to grab a slice of the premium end of some lucrative service industries too, in weddings, travel and healthcare. It plans to open travel stores and ‘health care […]
It is telling when Japan’s once most exclusive department store chain lends its name to a shop in a highway service area. Not a sign of decline, but rather a testament to Isetan-Mitsukoshi’s renewed vigour, and its determination to bring its products to its customers wherever they are. Isetan-Mitsukoshi’s ambitions to expand its smaller store […]
JR West will unveil a new section to its Lucua SC at Osaka Station next Spring, taking over 30,000 sqm of sales space from Isetan-Mitsukoshi. The latter will no longer have a contiguous sales space of its own, forced instead to operate separate sales areas as small stores. Ironically, this may turn out to be […]
As part of its diversification drive, Isetan-Mitsukoshi plans to turn its small import business, Club 21 Japan, into a significant player in overseas brand distribution. This will feed both its own department store sales floors, as well as its up coming select shop chain. At the same time the influence of Isetan Shinjuku in fashion […]
Isetan-Mitsukoshi continues to take direct control of parts of its sales floors. The new areas are being turned into self-managed concessions and mini shopping centres in order to clarify the positioning of each branch to better suit local traffic. All of this means opportunities for overseas brands. The latest are a select shop for the […]
Sales at department stores rose for the first time in 16 years in 2013 and by a solid percentage too. The uplift came from a splurge of high ticket consumption prior to the tax hike, investment in renovation and enlarging of city centre stores – not to mention much better management. Will it last? While […]
Tourism has helped boost city department store revenues by as much as 10-15%, but until now the only real benefit for foreign customers has been the consumption tax rebate – and even that was highly restricted until now. Isetan-Mitsukoshi will go one further next year, opening a dedicated duty-free store that will sell luxury brands […]
Isetan-Mitsukoshi is leading the charge to diversify into small format retailing and raise the ratio of private brand product in department stores (see Focus, Page 13), but other department store groups are also working hard to catch up. Daimaru-Matsuzakaya has just unveiled two shoe brands and Tokyu has created an accessories specialty chain. A further […]
Despite fears of a downturn following the consumption tax increase in April, sales in many sectors remain strong. Although sales of high end art and jewellery sales were frenzied in March and remain weak as a result, department stores are reporting strong sales in luxury brands even now. Having jumped 20% year on year in […]
Isetan-MItsukoshi enjoyed a significant jump in turnover last year and is optimistic about the future – a future where the department store moniker will be increasingly inappropriate. It is already well advanced in rolling out small store chains, but its latest initiative to create a specialty women’s fashion chain is the project with the most […]
